EASTERICA: REVISION

Most of this music involves a light, Eastern melody buried underneath a clattering heaviness. In many respects, it is comparable to Mastodon's Crack the Skye. While the album as a whole lacks variety, the execution of this style is generally impressive. Engaging and sometimes haunting melodies demonstrate a real sense of creativity. My major complaint would be the robotic bass drum thudding along through much of the album- it really takes away from otherwise intriguing and excellent music.

"Ali Baba" Fusing Eastern melodies and instrumentation with the thrashing of overdriven electric guitar can be a risk. Here, it works to great effect. Speaking of effects, I quite like the use of reverb.

"Bilad Al-Rafidayn" The follow-up to the first track seems almost like a natural extension of it. New Eastern melodies enchant the listener as a thundering rhythm section and heavy guitar pummels him back to reality.

"Gilgamesh" With a distorted chord progression and exotically discordant run, I am reminded of modern King Crimson, particularly the instrumentals on The Power to Believe. Again, the only negative for me is the drumming- that thumping underneath is too much. The drop off at the end is a great final touch.

"Sphinx" Very similar to the previous tracks, this one uses a lighter melody and a simpler rhythm.

"Ishtar" Once more, the overuse of the bass drum robs this otherwise majestic piece of its dynamics. The light melody underneath everything else is easily the best aspect.

"Dream about Sealand (Part II)" I love the alternate percussion used in this track that was briefly utilized in the previous one. It adds a dimension to the music rather than robbing it of its potency even though the irritating bass drum is still very much present.

"Eurasia" This terse piece seems to pick up where the previous one left off, keeping similar sound and drive, while presenting a more uplifting melody.

"Peak of the World" Using a rapid melody and quieter passages breaking up the piece, "Peak of the World" has a more dynamic approach with some extremely interesting tunes. The machine gun drumming may be the worst here, however.

"Flying" While everything before was very good, it lacked variety. This piece makes up for it: "Flying" features delicate hand percussion and a ringing melody that isn't drowned out all the way through, but builds and has an anticipatory feel.

"Easterica" This track should have been placed somewhere in the middle, I think. It shows a completely different side of Misanthrofeel on this album: Eerie, empty atmospheric keyboard evocative of barren and dangerous land.

'Easterica: Revision' - Misanthrofeel (6/10)

The man behind the music of Misanthrofeel must have noticed that the potential of his second full-length release 'Easterica' had not been fulfilled. As a result, 'Revision' was born. This is not a batch of fresh music (with the footnote exception of a single new ambient track) but a new, modified run through of Misanthrofeel's oriental metal spectacle. With that in mind, 'Revision' certainly suffers from alot of the same problems that it's parent had to deal with, but the addition of some new touches and flourishes, as well as a more effective track sequence makes this the definitive edition of 'Easterica,' essentially making the first version obsolete.

The music revolves around the same formula for the most part; hypnotic, exotic melodies playing overtop an electronic emulation of metal heaviness. While the lack of variety in the compositions is still to the album' detriment, there are some more effective timbres and sounds used, to make the music sound alot warmer and professional.

The ambient self-titled track 'Easterica' isn't much to write home about, but it's a dark epilogue to the album, and takes the fact that all of the music is computerized (no live instruments involved!) to it's advantage by using layers of ambience that would be alot harder to achieve without the use of a software program.

While there is not alot of difference in between the two versions of 'Easterica,' this version is certainly superior to it's predecesssor, by introducing new sounds and a more professional vibe to the table. Don't expect a world of change, however.